The World Health Organization (WHO) seeks to identify a service provider to conduct a multi-disciplinary scoping review of the literature on Science and Knowledge Translation in health emergency policy-making.
Health emergencies can present specific challenges for translating science and knowledge into policy, including:
- an even greater degree of uncertainty relative to day-to-day policy-making,
- decision-making moving beyond ministries of health to heads of government, for example, where there may be less understanding of scientific and public health information, methods and processes,
- increased time pressures for the collection of scientific information and decision-making from that information and
- greater political and public scrutiny of translation and decision-making processes.
Objectives
This scoping review project has three main objectives:
- advancing the conceptualization of Science and Knowledge Translation, specifically in health emergency contexts, by reviewing existing conceptualizations of Science and Knowledge Translation in health emergencies
- reviewing the existing multi-disciplinary research base about Science and Knowledge Translation in the context of public health emergencies, identifying barriers and enablers to Science and Knowledge Translation in emergency contexts and examples of good or innovative practices and
- reviewing the research on contextual factors that are can influence, assist or hinder Science and Knowledge Translation in health emergencies.
Deliverables
This project consists of two main pieces of work, which will both be developed under the guidance of the technical team working on Science and Knowledge Translation in WHO’s Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Department:
- Scoping review of the research about Science and Knowledge Translation in health emergency policy-making:
- A scoping review building on a multi-disciplinary search approach including:
- a grey literature search to identify policy documents and reports published e.g. on government websites
- a keyword search in relevant electronic databases to identify academic articles, including from disciplines such as the social sciences, defining and conceptualizing science and knowledge translation in health emergencies, interventions to strengthen Science and Knowledge Translation, barriers to translation and contextual factors influencing Science and Knowledge Translation in health emergency policy-making
- snowball sampling to gather expert input to complement the literature search.
- Peer-reviewed article summarizing and analysing the findings of the scoping review:
- The main results of the scoping review will be included in a manuscript to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- The manuscript will be developed under the guidance of the technical team at WHO to comply with WHO internal clearance and publication processes.
- A scoping review building on a multi-disciplinary search approach including:
Timeline
- Estimated time necessary: February to May 2023
- Estimated duration/period: approximately 3 months
Specific Requirements
- Interested organizations and individuals should meet the following requirements:
- 7+ years of experience in public health research including previous experience with leading multidisciplinary research projects is required. Particular expertise in Science and Knowledge Translation is desirable.
- Demonstrated experience in conducting and publishing systematic and/or scoping reviews and grey literature searches is required.
- Background in public health, global health policy, science communication or related field.
- Previous experience in working with WHO is an asset.
- Language: expert knowledge of English required and working knowledge of at least one other UN language preferred.
For more information, visit WHO.
